Brussels (Belgium)

Here is some very good new music.

Barry Altschul & The 3dom Factor – Live in Krakow (Not Two)

For some musicians, the process to the performance is 1.) Pour gasoline, 2.) Light match.  On this live set from drummer Barry Altschul, bassist Joe Fonda and saxophonist Jon Irabagon, the flames are unleashed on the city of Krakow, and there’s just no end to it.  Even the brief reprieve of “Irina” barely serves as a breather with its insistent extrapolation of the blues.  This album really only has gears that operate at high speeds, and that’s exactly the reason you want to scoop this one up.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

Henrique Eisenmann – The Free Poetics Of (Red Piano Records)

That way in which a roomful of conversations can take on a life of its own, and achieve a unity that verges on a distinct dialog all to itself… that’s the sensation from this new release by Henrique Eisenmann.  The crosscurrents of melody ripple across the dotted surface of multi-rhythmic expressions, and it crackles with life.  Even during contemplative interludes, that electricity hums quietly just beneath the surface and gives off an animated charge.  The pianist has soprano saxophonist Gustavo D’Amico, double bassist Jorge Roeder and percussionist Rogerio Boccato at his side.  Music from Boston, MA.

Artist site | Buy:  Amazon

Tony Burkill – Work Money Death (ATA Records)

Some soul, some bop and plenty of heat to drive it all ahead.  This throwback recording to the old school when hard bop was looking inward at its soul and outward to other musics is plenty addictive.  Saxophonist Tony Burkill finds a way to make the music catchy when at its most intense, and introspective when it’s time for the intensity to catch its breath.  It’s a pattern he has on repeat, and it never grows old, not even a little bit.  The rhythmic attitude of Work Money Death is let’s dance, and while the tempo might not point to any formal method of motion, it elicits a compulsion to move all the same.  Music from Leeds, UK.

No artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

John McNeil & Mike Fahie – Plainsong (Destiny Records)

Nice straight-ahead set from the trumpeter John McNeil and trombonist Mike Fahie.  They stick to the area where hard bop and post-bop can blend into the same crowd and remain relatively indistinguishable one from the other.  “Rain Song, Plain Song” is one of a couple exceptions where the modern influence reigns supreme, and the decision to take this course gives the album its personality.  This doesn’t stray far from the winning formula of McNeil’s Hush Point group.  For this session, it’s pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Billy Hart rounding out a quintet.  Music from Brooklyn, NY.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp – Amazon

Giovanni Di Domenico & Abschattungen – The Ear Cannot Be Filled With Hearing (El Negocito Records)

This large ensemble performance led out by pianist Giovanni Di Domenico goes big and gives it everything they’ve got.  They toe the line where sonic wildness becomes random dissonance, and so each of the four extended pieces of his 2017 release perpetually cycle between states of dispersal and reformation.  The thing that triggers the transition back to structure is a groove.  It’s as if it suddenly emerges from beneath the surface of the song, like the earth swelling up and grumbling out a heady tempo.  It’s an arresting feature of an interesting album.  Music from Brussels, Belgium.

Artist site | Listen | Buy:  Bandcamp